Before and after: from tiny en suite to supersized shower

Enlarging their cramped and dated bathroom and ditching the tub finally gave the owners the spa-style super-luxe shower room they'd always wanted

The owners bought their house knowing that they could make a big difference to what was already there and create the sort of home they’d dreamed of.

‘When we moved in, the house had a bathroom you really wouldn’t want to spend too much time in, and a tiny en suite,’ they say. ‘We were keen to improve the property, so we decided to extend the master bedroom and en suite. We had a good idea of what we wanted the new shower room to be like, but in order to make the most of the space, we employed an architect to help us draw up the plans.’

The pair already had a great local builder in mind to carry out the project. ‘We knew him before and had inspected his work, so we were confident it was up to scratch,’ they say. ‘He did such an amazing job.’

The new en suite is much bigger than it was and, as it’s only the couple that use it, they decided to treat themselves by recreating a hotel spa look, with plenty of natural stone and mirrors.

‘We’ve always liked Villeroy & Boch bathrooms,’ say the owners. ‘And as we’re not planning to work on this room again for a long time, we splashed out on our sanitaryware. We also chose gorgeous tiles that are different sizes, but all made of luxurious grey stone.’

Rather than having blinds, the couple added opaque glass for privacy. For a similarly fuss-free look, the shower fittings were kept very streamlined. ‘We looked hard to find a shower with as little chrome as possible,’ they say. ‘And we chose a glass shower enclosure because we wanted it to look almost transparent when you walk in.’

The one thing the couple had kept from the previous bathroom was a radiator. ‘Now it has a lot more space around it, so it’s more effective,’ they say. ‘And because everything else is neutral, we treated ourselves to bright hammam towels to add bursts of colour.’

The plumbing is hidden by a false wall, so the owners built in a handy shelf for shower essentials.

To complete the scheme, the couple added two mirrors to throw light around the room. ‘It’s a fairly cheap way of making the space seem larger,’ they say. ‘And it’s easy to get pieces of mirror glass cut to size at a local merchant.’